Former world number one Muguruza survives Kasatkina scare as Qatar Total Open begins page 19

Monday, February 24, 2020 Attiyah lays down marker The Qatar’s ace rallyist wins first stage, opens a comfortable lead in Toyota Hilux; Khalid al Mohannadi impresses in T3 action

Tribune News Network two Polaris RZRs battling it out for times. We thought it was fixed but, from LUSAIL stage honours. the start, it was misfiring all the time in Khalid al Mohannadi and Sébastien first, second and third gear. It was like Local star Nasser bin Saleh al At- Delaunay clocked the fastest time of 2hr no fuel going to the engine. I just drive tiyah and French navigator Matthieu 01min 39sec to claim the early T3 brag- one kilometre and the engine went off. Baumel opened up a comfortable lead ging rights and win the opening round We stopped for half an hour, then the of five minutes and 50 seconds after the of the Manateq Qatar National Baja. The engine started and we drove back to the opening 171.25km selective section of Can-Am crew finished 35 seconds ahead stage start.” the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally of American racer Austin Jones and his Day one also included the first of (MQCCR) on Sunday. Brazilian teammate Gustavo Gugelmin. three rounds of the Manateq Qatar Na- Attiyah led the day’s stage from Defending FIA Baja world champions, tional Baja with the entire day’s route start-to-finish in his Toyota Hilux. He Fedor Vovobyev and Kirill Shubin, were counting as a scoring round of the five- had edged 27.2 seconds in front of Ya- third, 10min 52sec behind the Qatari, event series. Twenty-one vehicles were zeed al Rajhi by the first checkpoint and after a rear puncture and a minor trans- eligible for championship points and gradually pulled away from his rival to mission issue. Saleh al Saif and Ahmed victory on the day fell easily to Khalid al reach the finish of the stage, south of al Kuwari were fourth and fifth. Mohannadi. Doha, with an impressive advantage. Overnight T3 leader Mohannadi He guided his Extreme Plus Po- The six-time event winner Attiyah said: “Today, the strategy was not too laris RXR 1000 to a 15min 50sec vic- said: “It’s never easy because the road is much speed. No damage to the tyres tory over the Can-Am of Saleh al Saif. Khalid al Mohannadi of Qatar during the first stage action on Sunday. really difficult from the beginning. We and we finished. Sébastien is a very good Ahmed al Kuwari, Mohammed al Har- didn’t make any mistakes, except one co-driver, so no mistakes today. We will qan and Rashid al Mohannadi rounded flat tyre, and then we need to manage check our strategy in the morning when off the top five. without any mistakes and without get- Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah we see the road book and the route.” The 1993 regional rally champion ting lost. We have a good pace. Tomor- Runner-up Jones added: “I drove at Sheikh Hamed bin Eid al Thani retired row is a long stage. Always in Qatar we “It was hard to get a rhythm to- 50 percent all day. I just wanted to get a his GMC after a fuel leak and a small have flat tyres but we try to manage with day for us with the navigation and good groove with my new navigator. We fire. Retirements also affected Adel a good speed.” with the car, to go like we used to do,” rode about four kilometres together the Abdulla and Hajri’s local champion- Saudi Arabian Rajhi and Ulster said Przygonski. “We will try and fix other day. That is all. I drove slow, we ship aspirations. co-driver Michael Orr finished the some navigation problems between took our time and wanted to see what The day’s stage features two pas- day in a solid second place in the us and the cooperation tomorrow will the rest of the competition was about. sage controls on the Umm Bab High- second of the Toyotas, despite losing be good. We changed a back tyre near Now we know where we are at, second way and on the Al Khararra road after their way for a short time between the finish.” place is good and we are excited to get it 54.07km and 93.61km, respectively, 98km and 101km of the stage. Rajhi The Toyota trio were the class of the going for the longer stages. It’s hard to before finishing on the Sealine road to said: “We have one puncture today, T1 field – Abdullah al Rabban led rivals read the terrain. It’s all the same colour the south of Doha. after 120km, and we had no brakes Mohammed al Meer and Balazs Szalay and very challenging. It’s hard to drive. I Monday’s second leg is more de- before the finish for 40km.” early in the special, before stopping after cannot imagine trying to navigate.” manding and includes a competitive Poland’s Jakub Przygonski marked PC1 with broken suspension after an ac- Qatar’s Adel Abdulla was debuting section of 334.25km. The timed action his first competitive appearance with cident. Szalay went on to finish the spe- his new G-Force T3 GF but stopped starts off the Al Shamal highway and the Overdrive Racing team with a third cial in 14th place, over an hour behind early in the stage with electrical issues. winds its way along the north-eastern Jakub Przygonski of Poland and co-driver Timo Gottschalk of the quickest time alongside German team- the leading Toyota trio after losing his Veteran Mubarak alHajri also stopped coast and across the northern deserts Netherlands had their first competitive drive in Toyota Hilux mate Timo Gottschalk. Jakub stopped way for a time after 65km of the stage. before PC1. to finish off the Al Kharsaah road. The Overdrive on Sunday. for a short time on the run in to the fin- Meer came home in 15th. Adel Abdulla said: “Before the race day’s stage includes three passages con- ish and reached Lusail 10min, 47sec be- A fascinating tussle was seen in we had an electrical problem. The car trols on the Al Zubara and Al Jumailah hind the leader, but well clear of fourth- the T3 category with seven Can-Ams, did North Forest (Baja Russia). They roads and the Dukhan highway and fin- placed Khalid al Mohannadi. a pair of OT3s, a G-Force T3 GF and tried to fix it. It was misfiring some- ishes 92.44km from Lusail.

Manateq QCCR 2020 Stage 1 results 2020 Manateq QCCR – positions after SS1 (unofficial): 1. Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 1hr 32min 28sec 2. Yazeed al Rajhi (SAU)/Michael Orr (GBR) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 1hr 38min 18sec 3. Jakub Przygonski (POL)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 1hr 43min 15sec 4. Khalid al Mohannadi (QAT)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo (T3) 2hr 01min 39sec 5. Austin Jones (USA)/Gustavo Gugelmin (BRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 02min 14sec 6. Fedor Vorobyev (RUS)/Kirill Shubin (RUS) OT3 by Overdrive (T3) 2hr 12min 31sec 7. Saleh al Saif (SAU)/Ali Hassan Obaid (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 17min 29sec 8. Ahmed al Kuwari (QAT)/Manuel Lucchese (ITA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 23min 43sec 9. Mohammed al Harqan (QAT)/Vili Oslaj (SLO) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 26min 32sec 10. Aleksey Shmotov (RUS)/Andrey Rudnitski (RUS) Can-Am Maverick (T3) 2hr 28min 12sec 11. Gonzalo Guayasamin (ECU)/Ricardo Torlaschi (ARG) Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo (T3) 2hr 30min 38sec 12. Kees Koolen (NLD)/Serge Bruynkens (BEL) OT3 by Overdrive (T3) 2hr 32min 09sec 13. Rashed al Mohannadi (QAT)/Pedro Santos (PRT) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 35min 24sec 14. Balazs Szalay (HUN)/Laszlo Bunnozci (HUN) Opel Grandland X 2ht 36min 48sec 15. Mohammed al Meer (QAT)/Alexey Kuzmich (RUS) Chevrolet Buggy 3hr 57min 33sec

2020 Manateq Qatar National Baja – round 1 positions (unofficial): 1. Khalid al Mohannadi (QAT)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo (T3) 2hr 01min 39sec 2. Saleh al Saif (SAU)/Ali Hassan Obaid (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 17min 29sec 3. Ahmed al Kuwari (QAT)/Manuel Lucchese (ITA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 23min 43sec 4. Mohammed al Harqan (QAT)/Vili Oslaj (SLO) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 26min 32sec 5. Rashed al Mohannadi (QAT)/Pedro Santos (PRT) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 35min 24sec 6. Ahmed al Muhannadi (QAT)/Igor Okhotnikov (RUS) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 2hr 54min 07sec 7. Jamal Fakhroo (QAT)/Saeed Shwareb (QAT) Nissan Patrol (T2) 3hr 02min 36sec 8. Mohammed al Meer (QAT)/Alexey Kuzmich (RUS) Chevrolet Buggy 3hr 57min 33sec, etc Six-time winner Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah (also in inset picture) drives Toyota Hilux on the way to winning the first stage in the Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally 2020 on Sunday.

Kiwis have India on the ropes SA bowlers rally to level T20 series after spirited tail-end resistance AFP Australia on target before Port Elizabeth Smith was caught by a diving AFP Jamieson and Tim Southee generally and day three Faf du Plessis at mid-on for Wellington took four apiece to roll and four is the best time to South Africa’s bowlers 29 with the total on 98 in the the tourists for 165. bat. If I do my job, we won’t be held their nerve as the hosts 13th over. New Zealand quick Trent But he came to the fore on chasing too much.” bounced back from a record Fast bowlers Lungi Ngidi, Boult declared himself “happy day three, first with the bat and India lost Prithvi Shaw defeat to win the second Twen- Kagiso Rabada and Anrich to be back” as he bagged three then with figures of three for early in their second innings to ty20 international against Nortje each took a wicket and wickets to leave India strug- 27 as India, the world’s top- give Boult his first wicket and Australia at St George’s Park bowled tight last overs in a gling for survival at stumps on ranked side, looked lost in New he claimed Cheteshwar Pujara on Sunday. tense finish, with Warner un- day three of the first Test in Zealand conditions. with the last ball before tea. Opening batsman David able to get enough of the strike Wellington on Sunday. Mayank Agarwal went for Warner hit an unbeaten 67 for to get his team across the line. India, faced with a 183-run 58 soon after the resumption Australia but it wasn’t enough “I thought we were on track first-innings deficit, were 144 Brief scores and Boult removed as South Africa defended a for most of the chase but we for four at the close, still 39 in India 165 and 144 for 4 (Agarwal 58, to have India at 113 for four. modest total of 158 for four to didn’t get that kick at the end arrears after rollicking innings Boult 3-27) trail New Zealand 348 India had their opportu- win by 12 runs and level the South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi bowled which we needed,” said Aus- by Boult and Kyle Jamieson (Williamson 89, Taylor 44, Jamieson 44, nities to clip New Zealand’s three-match series. well at the end on Sunday. (AFP) tralian Finch. pushed New Zealand to 348. Sharma 5-68, Ashwin 3-99) by 39 runs wings. They opened the day Australia lost three wick- “South Africa bowled beau- Ajinkya Rahane was un- with two wickets in the first ets for eight runs in the last 2.1 tifully and they executed bril- beaten on 25 with Hanuma three overs to have New Zea- overs to finish on 146 for six. second over, bowled by Pat were trying to capitalise on liantly under pressure.” Vihari on 15, and spinner Ravi- “I’m just happy to be back land 225 for seven, just 60 It was their first T20 defeat Cummins, and raced to 50 off the powerplay. The series decider takes chandran Ashwin said India out there, it’s been a little frus- runs ahead. in nine matches going back to 31 balls. “We thought 160 was par place on Wednesday at New- were far from raising the white trating on the sidelines,” the But lusty hitting from November 2018. Warner, and because we know this wicket. lands in Cape Town, the scene flag, although with only six left-armer said. Jamieson with an entertaining South Africa captain Steve Smith got Australia off to It was always going to be more of the ball-tampering scandal wickets remaining, he saw a “If we can get a couple 44 off 45 balls and Boult add- Quinton de Kock was named a similarly fast start but both difficult towards the end.” which led to bans for Smith score around 350 as necessary more early in the first hour (on ing 38 off 24, along with a more man of the match after he teams found scoring increas- South Africa scored 59 runs and Warner. to save the Test. Monday) or so, we should be in sedate 43 from Colin de Grand- slammed 70 off 47 balls to get ingly difficult on a slow pitch for no wicket in the six-over Boult, back in Test a good position.” homme saw New Zealand’s last the home team off to a blaz- with low bounce as the ball lost power play and Australia re- after breaking a hand during Boult credited changing three wickets add 123 runs. ing start as they set out to re- its shine and hardness. sponded with 54 for one. Brief scores the Boxing Day Test in a dis- the angle of as a key Ishant Sharma was the cover from a record 107-run “We realised the new ball Warner and Smith, both South Africa 158 for 4 (de Kock 70, astrous series for New Zealand weapon to upset the Indian most successful of the Indian defeat in the first match in is really key with the bat,” said on their first tour of South Af- Richardson 2-21) beat Australia 146 for in Australia, took a back seat batsmen. bowlers with five for 68 while Johannesburg on Friday. De Kock. “It gets more dif- rica since serving a one-year 6 (Warner 67*, Ngidi 3-41) by 12 runs in India’s first innings when “We know it’s a very good Ashwin took three for 99. He hit two sixes in the ficult towards the end so we ban for ball-tampering, kept